To Tell the Truth
February 13, 2008 – 8:10 am | by bryanIf you're new here, and you're into sports and/or the Christian faith, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
So there’s this thing going down today in Washington D.C., and if all you listen to is sports talk radio, you would think this is a huge deal…the story of the year, perhaps. Well, thankfully it’s not, despite how much the talking heads (cough*Mike & Mike*cough) have been talking about it.
You all know the story by now, so there’s no need to retell it. Bottom line is this: Despite some evidence that says otherwise, Roger Clemens is sticking with his story that he never used HGH or steroids.
The interesting angle here, in my opinion, is the position Andy Pettitte is in. One of his best friends has been accused of doing something unethical and illegal, and under oath he had a choice to make. Tell the truth and dime out his friend, or lie for the sake of his buddy. It was clear from the beginning what stance Pettitte was going to take, because similar claims were made against him in the Mitchell Report, and he admitted they were true days later. If he wasn’t going to lie to save his own skin, he wasn’t going to lie to save someone else’s.
It’s common knowledge that Pettitte is a Christian, and while that doesn’t carry a lot of weight with the media, it does make me wonder. What was Pettitte’s main motivation for telling the truth? Fear of God or fear of perjury? I’m guessing it was an equal mix of both that made the decision an easy one to make. (note that I said easy to make, not easy to follow through with). Pettitte knew he had to be truthful with Congress, even if one of his best friends asked him to lie.
I know there’s a chance that Roger is telling the truth, but personally, I don’t believe him (your mileage opinion may vary). Assuming that he is lying, and that Pettitte is sure of it, what a crappy position for Pettitte to be in. How do you think you’d handle being in Pettitte’s position? Would the threat or perjury make it an easy decision? Could you ever feel okay about lying to cover up a friend’s past transgressions if there was no real victim to the crime?
So let’s sit back and see how things play out. If the evidence shows that Clemens is telling the truth, he gets my sincere apology. If it shows Clemens is lying, well, no surprise there. And if, like I think is going to happen, there is no strong evidence either way, well then this really wasn’t such a big deal after all, was it?
Tags: Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens, Steroids
2 Responses to “To Tell the Truth”
By Ron Davis on Feb 13, 2008 | Reply
I don’t know Pettitte personally, but I would believe whatever he says. He is one of very few who I would believe no matter what they said. (Though, honestly, it’s easier to believe them when they say “yes I did” than when they say “no I didn’t.”)
The fact that telling the truth puts his good friend in an awkward situation speaks volume of his character. I hope I would make the same decision if I were in his shoes.
By buddy watts on Feb 17, 2008 | Reply
I think you are right.